I was "got" today by JW's. The doorbell rang and as I was close by, I answered it rather than use the intercom. In a moment of weakness, having just got up after night shift I did not twig on that there were "two people" indicating fairly accurately who they were before they even spoke to me. The opening question was what did Christmas mean to me. Not thinking, I started to answer, before I realised who they were and explained my position, wished them luck in our cul-de-sac (I know my neighbours well) and sent them on their way. However, What does Christmas mean to you today?

Being a no believer, and celebrating Christmas, is that not a bit hypercritical? Well it would depend on why you are celebrating. For me, Christmas is more of an end of year party. We have (well most of us) worked dam hard all year and deserve a pat on the back and a couple of days off for free that are not deducted from our annual entitlement!!
Those expensive special presents, not the sort of thing one usually buys out of the blue, but saving up and then buying presents for people, you have a defined goal at the end of the year and one a whole are not so likely to put it off to next month. Lets face it, a room full of people ripping off reindeer covered wrapping paper (don't recall reindeer in Bethlehem), the looks of surprise and fun (unless granny has just given you monikered hankies for the third year running) is a nice social event when everyone in singing from the same sheet and is fun.
Christmas dinner, it is the one day a year (unless you are American) when 95% of people are not working and getting everyone around a table to sit eat TOGETHER and not in shifts as it is with my family is possible. So if that is the case, why not have a big dinner and glass of red or two (or three).
This Christmas, I am not working. First time in the last five years I have not had either early or late shift. Although with earlies and lates, at least I get to see my children drowning in a sea of wrapping paper. Working at Christmas, it has a small irony. You would not believe the amount of people who want to fly on Christmas day. I have a colleague who is a regular Sunday man. He takes Christmas very seriously. You should have heard him complain when we had an aircraft flying that had a bunch of nun's and priests flying off to sing in a concert somewhere Christmas day. It would seem in today's society, Christmas has lost it's collective meaning and taken on the mantle of many different meanings........

Anyway, that is just my view of Christmas......


Matt 

PS forgot to mention, a bit of a sneaky approach too as JW's don't do Christmas

Xmas, to me, is just another day of the week, when I shop and cook exactly the same stuff for myself...

..and definitely NO religion involved. (more trouble that its worth)!

...maybe partake of an extra bottle of wine...

..and maybe wear a funny paper hat.. ...!

Paul.... ...!

I have spent the past 35+ years on my own...including Xmas...So I am getting quite used to it now... ...!
Peace and Goodwill.
Certainly Peaceful...and I don't know a bloke called "Will"... ...!

I don't belong to any religion, though my family is catholic, mostly, but I always like to see my family united, having supper together and laughing during this season...

ozzy72 wrote on Dec 16^th, 2011 at 10:46am:


I think it appeals to so many faiths (and the unfaithful) because at heart, it is the sort of celebration Matt describes... having survived another year, and being able to share what one has tucked away for the winter. The roots of the holiday go back to solstice celebrations, Yule, etc... the Christian version has just had better PR, ever since that religion was co-opted by the Romans.  And of course, for a lot of non-Europeans far from their homelands, they play along for the sake of "when in Rome..." 

But I agree that it's become an orgy of commercialism... dazzling friends and loved ones with shiny new stuff seems more important than celebrating together. The pressure to buy, buy, buy takes a lot of the joy out of sharing.

My wife and I are devoted Christians like our parents so Christmas to us is very much about the birth of Christ. Part of our tradition is reading the Bible and going to the evening Christmas service. That said, the actual date of birth of Christ is pretty well known to NOT be on December 25, the date chosen for the celebration was also for family gatherings. Which is what the rest of Christmas means to me, a time to get together and enjoy the day with friends and family.

Jayhawk Jake wrote on Dec 17^th, 2011 at 12:12pm:

I think that goes for most people whatever they believe in.

X-mas for me has changed meaning over the years.  As a child it was definitely about the gifts.  In my twenties it became a time to be with family, as Mom & Dad were living overseas and my only brother halfway across the U.S.  In my early thirties the family ideal strengthened as my parents moved close by as well as my brother.  In addition, the joy of being a parent at x-mas manifested with the birth of my daughter.   Now that I am in my late thirties the meaning of x-mas has solidified into seeing and bringing together all of the family.  I see my parents weekly as they require caretaking (too many power-tool accidents for dad, too much senility for mom) but even though my bro lives 20 minutes away I see him only 4-5 times yearly.  Great opportunity see his new wife and newly acquired nephew and niece.  X-mas to me is FAMILY

I'm not religious, and neither is anybody in my family. We celebrate Christmas (no point calling it X-Mas, or any of that rubbish, we all know exactly what day of the year it is).

It's very much a family thing... My sister moved out to California a few years ago, so this year we are over visiting her. Usually we do a webcam chat and have presents and the such. It's a day just to do a lot of nothing. Dinner is easy - We have our favourite meal. Sometimes that is steak and chips, but this year I am cooking Beef Wellington (with Buffalo) just to spice things up a bit.


Christmas and New Year are also key dates in my calendar to get absolutely rat arsed, as my exams are a few weeks afterwards. The end of exams is also a date in the diary 

Fozzer wrote on Dec 18^th, 2011 at 4:30am:



Nurse Gladys dropping by, what a great Christmas you are going to have Fozzer

Matt

Fozzer wrote on Dec 18^th, 2011 at 7:12am:

Better to have Nurse Gladys than Nurse Ratched.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo%27s_Nest_%28film%29

ozzy72 wrote on Dec 18^th, 2011 at 2:38pm:

Lucky for him she didn't use the steel wool! 

ozzy72 wrote on Dec 18^th, 2011 at 2:38pm:



Chuck Norris goes fetal and whimpers in the corner when Ozzy's mum walks through the door

Matt

In the next few days I will be making shopping lists of all sorts of tasty foodstuffs from various markets, ready to spend hours in my kitchen with my trusty gas cooker, surrounded by pots and pans of all shapes and sizes, cooking some wonderful meals for myself...and anyone else who pops in!
Some of my happiest times of the day are spent in my kitchen, wearing my cooks apron and cooks hat, and cooking all sorts of tasty things to eat...
...and sipping a few glasses of Vino at the same time... ...!

Paul....looking up some tasty recipes.. in my cook books... ...!

expat wrote on Dec 20^th, 2011 at 3:38am:


Quote:
"And now the reindeer is in fact off the shelves of Harvey Nichols and at online outlets such as Amazon and Edible.com--but only because stores can't keep up with customer demand for the product, which costs about $23 for a 6.7 ounce container."
End quote.

Decided by a MEETING of Reindeer... ...!

Paul... ... ... ...!

P.S. Roast Carol Singers are on the menu for Boxing Day... ...!

I forgot to mention one other thing in my above post:
We all hide in a closet, in the garage, etc.  ehile we wait and watch dad explode the house in an attempt to FINALLY turn on the electric gas fireplace.

Fozzer wrote on Dec 20^th, 2011 at 4:03am:

Fozzer, I expect many pics of the fine foods to be posted.  Please do not forget to post one of a roasted carol singer with an apple in their mouth.

About 8 years ago I gave up on decorating the house with lights. When the electricity rates began rising and the new generation of led lights came out, my many hundreds of 7 Watt exterior bulbs were retired. 3 years ago I quit putting up a decorated tree, with just the two of us here it was a mutual agreement. On a sliding scale I guess the younger I was, the more Christmas meant to me. Still though we enjoy the music and the day without all the glitz.
Merry Christmas to all of you and have a great New Year.